In our Total Forklift Operating Cost Propane vs Electric article, will show you how even though a propane forklift is cheaper to purchase than an electric one, the electric model will end up costing you much less over the time that you own it. Let's show you why.

Forklift Operating Cost Propane vs Electric

Electric forklifts have a much lower total cost of ownership than their propane counterparts. Let's take a closer look at the above example to prove our point.

That's $11,000 more. However, the electric forklift will actually cost you $7,120 less to own and operate after only 5 years. How can that be?

Here's why.

An electric forklift will have a lower cost of ownership than a propane one

Electric Forklifts Cost Much Less to Operate

When you factor in both maintenance and fuel costs that you will incur over the time that you own your forklift, an electric one will actually cost you less.

Maintenance Costs

You will spend much less in maintenance costs for your electric forklift over a comparable propane model. We do the math below to show you how this is possible!

LPG Fuel (liquid petroleum gas):

On average, a propane forklift will cost you about $1.15 per hour that it’s in service to keep it properly maintained. Therefore, in our example where our forklifts are used for 120 hours per month, the cost to maintain the propane forklift would be about $138.

Electric Forklift:

On average, an electric forklift will cost about $0.90 per hour that it’s used to keep it properly maintained. So, if we look again at our example electric forklift that is used for 120 in a month, the total cost to maintain it would be $108.

An electric forklift will have lower monthly fuel and maintenance costs

Fuel Costs

You will spend much less in fuel costs for your electric forklift over a similar propane one. Let's take another look at our above example to discover why.

LPG Fuel (liquid petroleum gas):

Petroleum costs about $2.00 per gallon to purchase (prices fluctuate - for the current average price per city in Canada, click here).

Our propane forklift in the above example has an 8 gallon tank. After 120 hours of operation in a month, this forklift will go through about 20 tanks per month. Each tank of fuel will cost $16.00, so the total cost of fuel for this forklift will be $320.

20 tanks x $16.00 per tank = $320.00

Electric Battery: An average electric forklift battery will use 4 Kilowatts to charge it after each hour it is used.

The average cost of electricity is about $0.10 per Kilowatt hour. This forklift is used for 120 hours in one month. Therefore the cost to charge its batter each month would be about $48.00.

120 hours x 4 Kilowatts x $0.10 = $48.00

Therefore, your fuel costs to run an electric forklift will be about $272 less every month.

The above graph shows total maintenance, fuel and purchase price costs per month

Total Monthly Expenses

As you can see from the above graph and following chart, the electric forklift costs much less, $302 less, to operate per month than the propane unit.

Even when you factor in the higher purchase price of the electric unit, spread over 60 months, the electric forklift will still cost you $118.66 per month less than the propane one.

Spread over the entire 60 months of ownership, your savings will be an incredible $7,120. If you own your forklift longer than 60 months, your savings will be even greater!

An electric forklift will still cost you $118.66 per month less than a propane one

Fast Response Time: Wayco also has an incredibly fast response time, so you won't have to wait to get your lift trucks back in operation.

We can usually have our service tech at your location within 2 to 3 hours, and we also guarantee same day.

Reliable Ongoing Maintenance: Wayco will help you make sure that your forklifts are well maintained. We can track and pre-schedule all maintenance work for you so that your equipment is properly serviced in a timely manner.

This will help you avoid expensive downtime, and you won't have to remember to schedule or book your service work. We'll do it for you.

Any Make or Model: Wayco offers top quality service on all forklift makes and models. If you are looking for top quality forklift maintenance and service, contact Wayco.

Our fully equipped service and parts department is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Our qualified technicians are capable of properly performing maintenance services and inspections of all types.

Our knowledgeable staff can keep your equipment in top working condition, which means lower repair costs and higher machine efficiency. Contact Wayco today for all of your forklift maintenance and repair needs.

"Our company shopped around for the most competitively priced lift equipment repairs and rental services in the KW region and found Waco Multi Lift Inc. Their repair rates were lower than the other companies out there and the service is prompt and professional for our in house lift trucks…[Read more]”